Tactical Decision Game #05–7
Pushing Up Into the Libatans
by 1stLt Albano Santiago Luayza,
Argentine Marine Corps
Situation
You are the company commanding officer (CO), Company G, 3d Battalion, 6th Marines. Your unit is attacking east toward Hal-Balahd, a small village sited on an important road junction deep into the Libatan Mountains. Your company is the advance guard of your battalion’s approach march and has been marching alongside the Alakhim/Hal-Balahd road for the last 2 hours. A pouring rain has soaked your men to the skin, and low clouds reduce visibility to just 100 to 150 yards. You start to feel exhausted after this hard push up the Libatans, fighting with pine branches and the pressure of your ammunition-burdened packs on your shoulders.
1st Platoon (reinforced with an engineer breaching team (EBT) and a machinegun (MG) squad) advances rapidly some 200 yards in front of your company’s main body. The main body is composed of the 60mm mortars company headquarters, 3d Platoon (Minus), a combat engineer platoon (minus), and an MG section (minus). 2d Platoon, (reinforced with an EBT and MG section), advances in the same direction, but some 300 yards north, securing your left flank. They reported to have bypassed well-prepared enemy positions on Hill 1025 30 minutes ago. Your right flank is guarded by 3d Platoon’s 1st Squad (reinforced with an MG section), about 150 yards south from your position.
Suddenly, 1st Platoon hits a concealed, fortified enemy position, receiving heavy MG and rifle fire. Two Marines die, and three more are badly wounded. Your advance element has become decisively engaged.
The enemy positions lay behind a thick barbed wire obstacle that seems to run north as an iron belt of bunkers. Defensive fires are fierce. 1st Squad, 3d Platoon reports to have hastily ambushed a platoon-sized counterattack force but needs to pull back with two lightly wounded Marines. The tactical air control party and artillery liaison officers call for air and artillery strikes, but this appears to do nothing but enhance the enemy’s will to resist. 1st Platoon is making slight progress thanks to its engineers, but you are losing momentum.
Bullets snap over your helmet while you try to appreciate the situation when your radio operator hands you the handset.
Radio operator: “It’s 2d Platoon, sir. There’s a lot of interference!”
CO: “This is Golf 6, go on.” You shout over the hell of artillery shells exploding 300 yards ahead.
2d Platoon: “Ran into mined . . . pulled back but no wou . . . fortified positions to north and sou . . . wire . . . enemy retreats east from 1025 along a path . . . not noticed us . . . strong positions . . . but silent . . . many troops moving south . . . we . . . moving . . . help you. . . .”
Now what, Commander?
Requirement
In a time limit of 3 minutes, develop your scheme of maneuver including any requests for air/artillery support. Prepare an overlay depicting your scheme of maneuver, designated targets, and rationale for your actions.
